What is Florida-Friendly Landscaping™?

Abstract

Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ (FFL) provides science-based landscape design and plant selection practices for installing and maintaining resilient, aesthetically pleasing landscapes. Once established, FFL landscapes require little, if any, irrigation, fertilizer, or pesticides. This new 7-page publication of the UF/IFAS Environmental Horticulture Department provides a brief overview of the FFL program, outreach, and requirements.

Synthetic Turfgrass and the Nine Principles of Florida-Friendly Landscaping™

“…FFL protects Florida's natural resources by conserving water, reducing waste and pollution, creating wildlife habitat, and preventing runoff and erosion (Momol et al 2021). Landscapes in Florida can be Florida-Friendly if designed and maintained according to the nine Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ principles (FYN Handbook 2015).…”

“…Homeowners in Florida are offered many different species and cultivars of natural turfgrass to consider for their lawns, each offering varying levels of shade, maintenance, water, disease, and pest resistance, as well as differences in color, texture, and overall aesthetics. Recent additions to the list of available turfgrasses have benefited from extensive breeding programs to develop cultivars that need fewer inputs (e.g., water and fertilizer), have fewer pest problems, and require less mowing, all traits that contribute to their appropriate use in Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ (FFL) (Momol et al 2021).…”